He turned to look at me.
"Deidre, since you've heard everything, I won't beat around the bush."
"I need you to play along until the curtain falls."
Acting—for professionals like us, it was as routine as breathing. But coming from the mouth of the man I loved, it was nothing short of laughable.
"Oh? And how would you like me to play it? What's the rate?"
Clyde ignored the mockery in my voice entirely. His expression was dead serious.
"I need you to keep being my fiancée. Keep up the public displays of affection. Keep being Victoria's foil. It won't be long. Two months, tops."
"Once her new drama wraps and my parents have fully accepted her, I can drop you without it getting ugly."
I could barely believe what I was hearing.
"How shameless can you possibly be? You actually think I'd agree to this?"
"You will."
Clyde pulled a check from his pocket and held it out to me.
"That's two million. When it's done, I'll give you another three. Five million buys me two months of your cooperation."
"You should think about that. At the rate you make doing bit parts, you wouldn't see that kind of money in ten years."
I looked at the check, and something inside me just hollowed out.
So that was it. My dignity, my feelings, who I was as a person—he'd priced it all at five million.
"What if I say no?"
My face was bloodless as I looked at him. "You planned that kidnapping, Clyde. I can go to the police. I can put you behind bars."
He looked at me like I'd told a joke. Nothing but contempt in his eyes.
"Then go ahead."
"Look at what you've actually got. You're the one who filed that report. The police already ruled it a random crime—nothing to do with anybody. And those videos, those photos? Every single one is real. No edits, no fakes. You've got nothing on me."
He studied me for a moment, then pressed his lips together.
"And you should know, with the kind of reach the Gilbert family has in Sterling City's elite circle, the second you say no, your parents back home get evidence that their daughter's been kept as some rich man's mistress. Your brother's school gets a tip that his sister is the industry's public entertainment. And your mother's little shop? It won't stay open."
Everything in me went cold. My head snapped up, and I locked every muscle to keep the trembling from showing.
"How do you know about my parents?"
Clyde shook his head with a small laugh.
"Deidre, you think I didn't run a background check before I picked you?"
"Where you're from, how many people in your family, what your parents do for a living, which school your brother attends, how much debt you owe. I know all of it."
My fists clenched so tight my nails bit into my palms, and the pain was the only thing keeping me conscious.
"So you're threatening me."
"Not a threat. A partnership."
Clyde corrected me. "You cooperate, I pay you, and your family stays safe."
"You don't cooperate, that's fine too. I'll just find someone else to be the foil. But Deidre, think carefully. If I replace you, those videos and photos aren't coming down."
"They'll stay up forever. People will keep digging into you, keep tearing you apart. Sooner or later your parents will see them. Your brother's classmates will see them. Is that what you want?"
My fists were clenched so hard my knuckles ached. In that moment, I wanted to kill him.
But I couldn't.
I stood there in the moonlight, my face white as paper.
Victoria lifted her gaze and gave me one slow, provocative look—then, just as fast, softened into that sweet, concerned mask.
